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Keeping Teams Out Of End Zone Key

Gerald McCoy and the Bucs’ first team defense bent but held the Dolphins to one first-half touchdown.

In the glass-is-half-full view of the world, the Bucs defense was strong last night in Miami.

Sure, Ryan Tannehill went all Tom Brady on the first team Bucs defense (oh, and Drew Brees is coming to town in three weeks, yea!) but when the Bucs needed a stop, even after playing Santa Claus, the defense stood tall.

The Dolphins had two series in the first possession inside the Bucs-10 thanks to an illegal contact penalty, but the Bucs defense stoned the Dolphins, forcing them to settle for a field goal.

“There is a lot we need to fix,” Bucs tackle Gerald McCoy said. “But the top defenses in this league keep you from scoring. As long as we are stingy in keeping people from getting into the end zone, we can work on the rest of it.”

This is a good thing. New England is famous for this. So what if opponents march down the field on the Bucs if the Bucs force teams to kick field goals, sooner or later that turns out to be the football equivalent to shooting yourself in the foot.

Joe….I would like to point out what I see. It’s been happening since the beginning of last season. Our corners don’t press. Every team we play is going to run slant routes on us all day and march right down the field. But when were defending the red zone our DBS have no choice but to cover tight. Are they just trying to avoid injury in the preseason? I find it hard to see revis and banks playing 5….10 yards off the receives every down. Is this how they are being coached????? To me this seems to be the reason we can’t stop the pass, we are not disrupting the routes at all. If they continue defending like this we are in for another very long season. What do you think?